What is the condition of women and children in NFHS 6 survey?
New data of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6) has come out. According to the results of the survey, while there has been a significant increase in obesity and high blood sugar levels among adults in the country, there has been a slight decline in the cases of diarrhea in children below 5 years of age. The health of children has improved due to improvement in vaccination coverage and access to safe drinking water.
The results of the survey point towards increasing cases of obesity and blood sugar among the adults of the country. Which shows that the burden of lifestyle diseases is increasing in the country. The survey revealed that in 2023-24, 30.7 percent of women aged 15-49 years were overweight or obese. In this, 42.8 percent women in urban areas were overweight, while in rural areas this rate was only 25.5 percent.
Obesity problem is more common in women
In this way, the problem of obesity among women is increasing rapidly in urban areas. In its previous survey (NFHS-5) this figure was 24 percent. This survey was conducted in 2019-21. In the same age group, the number of men found overweight or obese has increased. Now this number has increased to 27.3 percent whereas in the last survey this ratio was only 22.9 percent. For NFHS-6, more than 7.1 lakh women and more than one lakh men were covered across the country.
Not only obesity but also cases of blood sugar are coming up at an alarming rate. A significant increase has also been seen in high blood sugar levels. There has been an increase in the number of women aged 15 and older who have high or very high blood sugar levels, or who take medicines to control blood sugar. In the NFHS-5 survey this level was 13.5 percent, while in NFHS-6 it increased to 17.8 percent. In rural areas this rate is 16.2 percent and in urban areas it is 21.9 percent.
Obesity is a big problem in union territories
In the same case, this rate among men was 20.9 percent. It is 23.9 percent in urban areas and 19.7 percent in rural areas. Blood sugar level (between 141 to 160 mg/dl) accounts for 7.5 percent of cases in women, while in cases above 160 this number is 9.1 percent. While in men (between 141 to 160 mg/dl) it is 8.8 percent and in cases of 160 or more it is 10.9 percent.
Among women aged 15-49, the problem of overweight or obesity is highest in Union Territories. The biggest problem is in Puducherry because here this rate was recorded at 46.3 percent, followed by 44 percent in Chandigarh, 41.4 percent in Delhi, 40.8 percent in Punjab and 40.5 percent in Tamil Nadu. In this case, the prevalence of obesity among women was recorded to be very low in states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Assam.
More cases of hypertension in men than women
While in the case of men in the same category, Andaman and Nicobar Islands recorded the highest prevalence of overweight or obesity at about 38 per cent, followed by Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Goa.
Talking about hypertension in adults, this problem is more prevalent in men than women. Systolic 140-159 mm of Hg or Diastolic 90-99 mm of Hg) was recorded in 22.1 percent cases in men, while this condition was 19.4 percent in women.
Rapid increase in internet use
In terms of internet usage, the rate of women has increased faster than that of men. While the number of women using internet was 52.9 percent in NFHS-5 survey, it increased to 73.4 percent in NFHS-6. In this, the number was much higher in urban areas (82.3 percent) than in rural areas (68.7 percent). Among men, 80 percent are using the internet. 84 percent people in urban areas and 78 percent people in rural areas are using the internet.
In the survey, the number of women who own bank or savings accounts has increased from 78.6 percent to 89.0 percent, and the number of women who own mobile phones has increased from 53.9 percent to 63.6 percent.
What is the percentage of going to school for 10 years?
The number of households with electricity in the country is very close to achieving its 100 percent target. In NFHS-5, 94.8 percent houses had electricity, now 98.2 percent houses have electricity. In the city, 99.7 percent of the houses have electricity, while in rural areas, 97.5 percent of the houses have electricity.
In the NFHS-6 survey, 50.4 percent of women aged 15 to 49 years are those who have been going to school for more than 10 years. In this case the number of men is 61.4 percent. The situation of women has improved compared to NFHS-5, in the last survey only 39.4 percent girls had managed to go to school for more than 10 years. In this case the number of men is 61.4 percent.
Similarly, the death rate of children under 5 years of age has also decreased by 38 percent. This rate was 45 per 1,000 live births in 2014, which has decreased to 28 per 1,000 live births in 2024.
Cases of operation for delivery increased
Delivery of children is now taking place in hospital or some other institution instead of home. In the NFHS-6 survey, 88.7 percent deliveries were done in some institution or the other. In this, 83 percent delivery took place in government institutions. In the process of delivery, 88.1 percent of the deliveries were done by trained health workers. Whereas 17.4 percent of the deliveries were done through operation. In the NFHS-5 survey, the number of operation cases was only 14.8 percent. In the NFHS-6 survey, in the cases of 17.4 percent operations, more deliveries were conducted in urban areas (23.4 percent) than in rural areas (14.2 percent).
During the survey period, 95.6 percent of children under 6 months of age were breastfed. Additionally, the number of children under 3 years of age who were breastfed within an hour of birth increased by nearly 10 percentage points, from 41.8 percent to 50.1 percent.
Decrease in cases of diarrhea in children
According to the survey, there has been a decline in cases of domestic violence against married women. Cases of assault with husband are more in rural areas than in cities. 17.5 percent cases occurred in the city and 22.3 percent cases occurred in rural areas.
According to the National Family Health Survey-6, there has been a slight decline in the cases of severe diarrhea in children below 5 years of age in the country. The main reason behind this is the improvement in the vaccination campaign and availability of safe drinking water.
The Health Ministry said that the rate of diarrhea in children below 5 years of age has reduced from 0.7 percent in NFHS-5 to 0.5 percent in NFHS-6 survey. Whereas, the coverage of all three doses of rota virus vaccine in children aged 12-23 months has increased from 36.4 percent to 85.4 percent.
